


Good Liquor Gonna Carry Me Down

by MargoWicker



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Drinking, F/M, Kissing, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 00:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13986774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MargoWicker/pseuds/MargoWicker
Summary: In an alternate timeline where Julia attended Brakebills as a knowledge student. Yes, Josh is there early but whatever.For the ever so gracious echomoon and rekter





	Good Liquor Gonna Carry Me Down

“Okay try saying it one more time”, I said with some impatience as he struggled through the Arabic for the invisibility charm. “anzur min khilal ald- Fuck!” Admitting defeat, he laid back into the numerous throw pillows probably put on his bed by Margo. I laid down parallel to him, supporting myself on my elbow. “Harder than Columbia?” I asked jokingly as we both chuckled. We lay there in comfortable silence among the star charts and textbooks. I began contemplating the strangeness of where we were. I had begun to drift away from James since I essentially been cut off from the city in a magic bubble. From downstairs, I could hear laughter and faint music. One of the legendary physical parties was gathering its energy.

As I turned to look at Quentin who was busy spacing out, I noticed for the first time how nice his hair looked. Perhaps he was styling it differently now, I thought to myself. I looked out the window and noticed the sun was setting and the sky had a taken on a bluish-purple tint. I took this as my cue to head back to my room across campus before I got sucked into the party vortex that Eliot would let no one escape from. Getting up as quietly as I could still managed to wake Quentin out of his daze which was then prompted by a, “No. Wait. Where are you going? We haven’t even finished half the chapter”. To which I replied, “You. You haven't finished half the chapter.”

I gathered up the last of my notecards and turned to leave when I heard his voice emerge again from the mound of pillows. “Stay for the party then?”

I shook my head and laughed as I closed the door behind me. As I neared the bottom of the stairs, I heard exuberant (probably tipsy) laugher. The voice was soon followed by a tall, lanky brunette. “Julia you've got to stay. Get your head out of the books.”, Eliot said as he handed me a drink. Margo had come around to his side, and they were both blocking the door. I admitted defeat and figured I could slip out sometime later. Rolling my eyes at them, I rounded the bar to place my bag on a side table.

Eliot left to continue preparations, and Margo sat down next to me. We were only about 10 minutes and one drink in when people began to arrive. I was grateful to see other people as Margo and I couldn't hold a real conversation and all she was asking me about was if I was into Q. Kady had appeared with Penny attached at her hip, creating a welcome diversion. As we were discussing who had blown something up in the lab this week, Alice came downstairs and Margo went to follow her like a puppy. “Damn, she’s not subtle at all” Kady laughed, as her crush on Alice had become apparent in the past week.

The living room had filled up with people and some dance music was playing. Everything would seem like a normal house party, if Eliot didn't keep on levitating shakers and bottles, or if the glasses didn't refill automatically. Kady and I got up to dance a double of whiskey later. We could see an animated Margo and a tipsy Alice flirting in the study nook. To their left, Penny and some other guys I didn't recognize were playing pool. Kady eventually got bored of dancing and left with Penny, so I made my way back to the couch where Josh and Eliot were competing to see who could make a better dick-shaped smoke ring. I tried to join in but I can't blow a smoke ring to save my life.

Giving up, I got another double of whiskey noticing that Quentin had come downstairs to join the party. He was trying to talk with Alice and Margo who clearly were more interested in each other. Steering him away from them, we made our way to the backyard. The perimeter of the grassy area was surrounded by fairy lights and dotted with quirky yet functional furniture. Some of the party had moved outside, so we sat side by side on one of the mismatched lawn chairs toward the edge of the yard. Lightning bugs were hovering around in the darkness. Another drink in, I turned to face Quentin, “So you finished that chapter?”. We reminisced about living in Brooklyn, and the past few months filled with weird classes and awkward hookups. Sitting there, laughing in the cool night air, I noticed how comfortable I felt with Quentin. Sure, we had known each other for years, but we had drifted apart after high school. It felt like nothing could happen between us and he likely wouldn't be into it.

Quentin must have noticed me going off into my own little world and he rested his hand on my shoulder. I practically jumped out of my skin, which was then followed by Quentin laughing at how apparently spooked I looked. I tried to play it off to no avail, Q still seemed confused. After a few more minutes, we went back inside where the music was still going strong. We returned to the couches in the common area, and out of habit I leaned back into him. At this point I was feeling the drinks, and as much as I was trying not to overthink it, I also found myself not giving a single fuck about what I was doing. Quentin struck up another conversation with Josh and Eliot, while absentmindedly playing with my hair. I was trying to stay engaged in the conversation but it was getting distracting. I think Margo noticed and she raised her eyebrows at me as if to say “Are you finally getting some?”

The four of us, along with some other second years I didn't know, started up a game of “Never have I ever”. Partway through the game Margo seemed to have succeeded in her objective as her and Alice disappeared down the hallway. At this point we were had formed a circle around the spiral area rug. I was lying with my head in his lap trying to remember how to just act normal around him as I had for so many other years. The game came to a close and the party began to wind down as much as one of these parties could. People had begun to gather in the backyard where Josh had engineered a way to reverse a beer funnel into a bong. It took me a minute to realize it but Q and I were some of the few people left in the house. We were left with our own private party and Q helped me up so we could dance. He couldn't dance very well but it was still endearing to watch, although I was pretending not to.

A hour had gone by in an instant, and as I decided that it would be a great idea for me to drunkenly make my way back to my dorm I realized I had left most of my textbooks in Q’s room because I had left in a hurry. We made our way back up the stairs while cracking up about upside down cats (how we found this funny I have no idea). By the time we had made it back to his room we both just fell back onto the bed in laughter forgetting the books. As we slowly regained our sanity and a semblance of normal breathing, we were left contemplating the ceiling again. Shaking myself out of it, I went to collect my books. I stood up to walk out and Quentin followed me to the door. As I reached the doorway I turned to face him. What I didn't expect was for him to be right behind me. Before I could say goodnight, he had reached out to brush my hair out of my face and pull me into a kiss. We were suspended in the moment until I heard a door open behind me. Quentin pulled me quickly inside and the textbooks were forgotten again.

\---

As I was waking up I realized the blue sheets I was entangled in were not my own, and the marks left on my neck matched the sunrise.


End file.
